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More rain is on the way for weather-beaten California, where storms have flooded communities and left at least 19 dead | CNN

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More rain is on the way for weather-beaten California, where storms have flooded communities and left at least 19 dead | CNN




CNN
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Storm-battered California – nonetheless reeling from weeks of lethal flooding, mudslides and rescues – is being hit with extra rainfall over the weekend.

An unrelenting string of atmospheric rivers – lengthy, slender areas within the ambiance that may carry moisture hundreds of miles – have turned communities into lakes, crippled highways and prompted hundreds of evacuations, together with earlier this week. No less than 19 folks have died on account of the storms.

Two extra are pummeling the state this weekend.

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“This isn’t over; we should stay vigilant. Keep protected, make the required preparations, and restrict non-essential journey,” Gov. Gavin Newsom stated in a press release. “Floods, landslides, and storms don’t care who you might be or the place you reside – it’ll hit you simply the identical. We now have misplaced an excessive amount of – too many individuals to those storms and in these waters.”

Greater than 25 million folks had been below flood watches Saturday night time throughout a lot of California’s central shoreline, in addition to the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys.

A slight threat of extreme rainfall – stage 2 out of 4 – is in place for areas alongside the California coast, the Transverse Ranges, and the foothills of the Sierras the place as much as 3 inches of rain might result in flooding and mudslides, the Nationwide Climate Service stated.

Residents in Monterey County, on California’s Central Coast, had been ordered to evacuate low-lying areas of the Carmel River Saturday afternoon. Sacramento County officers ordered residents of the Wilton space to flee – as soon as once more – attributable to an anticipated rise within the Cosumnes River.

“Persons are fatigued about evacuation orders. Persons are fatigued by seeing these Caltrans indicators saying ‘detour’ – they’re simply fatigued typically,” Newsom stated, talking from a flood evacuation shelter on the Merced County Fairgrounds.

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President Joe Biden on Saturday accepted California’s request for a catastrophe declaration, liberating up federal support to complement restoration efforts in areas of the state affected by storms, flooding and mudslides since December 27, the White Home stated.

“This federal support is essential to restoration efforts so Californians can get again on their ft quicker,” Newsom stated in a tweet thanking Biden for approving the declaration.

The primary system of the weekend arrived at California’s coast Saturday afternoon and was anticipated to maneuver inland, bringing heavy rain throughout the state “as one other surge of Pacific moisture streams forward of the primary chilly entrance,” the Nationwide Climate Service stated.

Lighter rainfall is anticipated to proceed Sunday, earlier than one other “ramp-up” late Sunday into early Monday forward of a second system, the climate service stated.

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The brand new spherical of heavy rainfall comes after quite a few areas already noticed 50% to 70% of the quantity of precipitation that they might normally get in an entire 12 months in 16 days.

San Francisco has recorded one in every of its prime 15 wettest winters on file.

Newsom stated it was simply weeks in the past that authorities in Southern California prolonged a drought emergency to hundreds of thousands of residents. Now, the state is inundated with rain.

“By some estimates 22 to 25 trillion gallons of water have fallen over the course final 16-17 days – the stacking of those atmospheric rivers the likes of which we’ve not skilled in our lifetimes,” the governor stated. “The truth is that is simply the eighth of what we anticipate will likely be 9 atmospheric rivers.”

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Although this weekend’s rainfall totals will likely be lower than in earlier storms, the brink for flooding is far decrease now as a result of the bottom is just too saturated to soak up any extra water in lots of areas.

“The challenges will current themselves over the course of the following few days slightly acutely, significantly as a result of every part’s saturated, significantly as a result of the grounds are overwhelmed.” Newsom stated. “What might seem much less important when it comes to the rainfall may very well be extra important when it comes to the impacts on the bottom and the flooding and the particles movement.”

Widespread rainfall totals by Monday will vary between 2 to three inches alongside the coast and inside valleys, with 4 to six inches doable for the San Francisco Bay space and the close by Santa Cruz and Santa Lucia mountains. This may seemingly lead to some situations of flooding in addition to mud, rock and landslides.

River flooding can be a serious concern, significantly across the Russian River in Northern California and the Salinas River close to Monterey.

Monterey County officers warned this week that flooding from the rising Salinas River might flip the world into an island and minimize it off from important providers.

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To the east, in Merced County, crews rushed to position rocks within the Bear Creek space forward of the storm’s arrival, apprehensive that high-water situations might proceed to erode the levee and ultimately result in levee failure within the downtown space of Merced.

National Guard troops, sheriff's office personnel and firefighters search for missing 5-year-old Kyle Doan Thursday near San Miguel, California.

The storm is hampering the continued seek for 5-year-old Kyle Doan, who was pulled from his mom’s palms by dashing floodwater on Monday.

“The water ranges proceed to rise within the space and the climate situations are unsuitable for any sort of search exercise in the present day … The search will proceed when climate and situations enable,” the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Workplace stated Saturday.

The kid and his mom had been on the best way to high school Monday when floodwater overwhelmed their SUV. The mom managed to take away Kyle from his automobile seat and held onto him however their palms slipped and so they had been separated.

The mom was later pulled safely out of the water. However Kyle has not been discovered.

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Members of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Workplace Dive Group, the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Group, and California Freeway Patrol air models had been in search of the boy. Troops from the Nationwide Guard had been beforehand concerned with the search however have since been launched from the mission.





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California

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass 'not worried' about supposed 'animosity' between Trump and California

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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass 'not worried' about supposed 'animosity' between Trump and California


Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass pushed back against questions about any “animosity” between the incoming Trump administration and California that could hamper efforts to battle the multiple wildfires raging in Los Angeles County. 

Trump has heavily criticized leaders in Los Angeles and California over the response to the wildfires, saying the city and state were woefully unprepared. 

On Sunday, Bass said she’s “not worried” about any supposed animosity between Trump and local officials and said she has been in communication with his team. 

DEATH TOLL FROM CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES RISES TO 16: LA MEDICAL EXAMINER

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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said there was no animosity between President-elect Trump and the city.  (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

Trump on Sunday posted on Truth Social that “incompetent polls” have no idea how to put out the L.A. wildfires. He had previously accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom of caring more about protecting an endangered fish species than protecting the state’s residents from wildfires. 

The incoming president has long railed against Democrats in California for limiting the availability of water for Californians that comes from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers in the northern part of the state.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and President-elect Trump

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and President-elect Trump have clashed on various issues, including the recent wildfires in Los Angeles County.  (Getty/AP)

Newsom and Los Angeles County supervisor Kathryn Barger have both extended separate invitations to Trump for him to visit the region to see the devastation the fires have caused. 

“I joined in the invitation to the incoming president to come to Los Angeles,” Bass said during Sunday’s press update on the firefighting efforts. “I joined with the supervisor, and the governor and spoke directly with the incoming administration yesterday. It was a fine call.”

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CALIFORNIANS ‘ANGRY’ AMID DEVASTATING WILDFIRES, ASKING WHERE HIGH TAX DOLLARS WENT: LOCAL RESEARCHER

LA wildfires

Burned structures are seen in Malibu as the Palisades fire burns during a windstorm on the west side of Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 8, 2025. (REUTERS/Ringo Chiu)

She added, “There are also, as I mentioned before, a number of my former colleagues who are up for confirmation. I feel like I will have good relations there.”

Bass and Barger said they believe Trump will visit the area. 

“I will say, knowing what I know, and I represent Altadena, which is probably the most diverse, community, that in the fifth district, this is the exact constituency that he was talking to,” said Barger. “You got socioeconomics from all walks of life, and they are suffering. So I am confident that this president will come.”

The mayor also took issue with questions about the supposed lack of communication between the city and the incoming Trump administration. 

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“There isn’t a lack of communication between the city of Los Angeles and the incoming Trump administration,” she said. “I have spoken with representatives of the incoming administration. I’ll be talking more about that in the coming days.”



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California fires live: 16 deaths confirmed as flames threaten UCLA campus and worsening winds predicted

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California fires live: 16 deaths confirmed as flames threaten UCLA campus and worsening winds predicted


LA fires death toll rises to 16 as new evacuation orders are issued

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Los Angeles wildfires that have destroyed 12,000 structures and killed 16 people.

Five of the deaths were attributed to the Palisades fire and 11 resulted from the Eaton fire, the coroner’s office said on Saturday evening.

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The Los Angeles county sheriff, Robert Luna, said the death toll is expected to rise as authorities deploy search dogs to devastated areas. The sheriff also said 13 people are reported missing.

County supervisor Lindsey Horvath said the LA area “had another night of unimaginable terror and heartbreak, and even more Angelenos evacuated due to the north-east expansion of the Palisades fire”.

The CalFire operations chief, Christian Litz, said the main focus on Saturday would be the Palisades fire burning in the canyon area, not far from the UCLA campus and the J Paul Getty Museum. Over the past 24 hours, the Palisades fire spread over an additional 1,000 acres (400 hectares), consuming more homes.

A fierce battle against the flames was under way in Mandeville Canyon, home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities not far from the Pacific coast, where swooping helicopters dumped water as the blaze charged downhill.

The National Weather Service warned of worsening Santa Ana winds that it predicted would pick up on Saturday night into Sunday morning in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and again on late Monday through Tuesday morning, bringing sustained winds of up to 30mph and wind gusts up to 70mph.

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The fire also was threatening to jump over Interstate 405 and into densely populated areas in the Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley.

Fire fighting aircraft drop water and refill to fight the largest blaze, the Palisades Fire. Photograph: Daniel A Anderson/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

In other developments:

  • In response to criticism over water supply issues, the LA Department of Public Works released a statement “correcting misinformation” about the lack of water to fight the Palisades fire this week. The statement was released one day after the chief of the LA fire department, Kristin Crowley, told Fox LA that her firefighters had been hamstrung when hydrants ran dry in certain parts of the Palisades on Wednesday morning.

  • Malibu has lost one-third of the eastern edge of the city, mayor Doug Stewart said yesterday evening. He said that Malibu, a community of about 10,000 people on the western edge of Los Angeles, has suffered three fires in three months, with the Palisades fire, which threatens to spread west of interstate 405, being the worst.

  • Firefighters deployed from Mexico arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon. Canadian and Texan firefighters are also on their way to California.

  • California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has doubled the deployment of the state’s national guard to Los Angeles amid the wildfires.

  • Newsom has also launched a website aimed at addressing misinformation about the Los Angeles area wildfires. CaliforniaFireFacts.com, a branch of Newsom’s own website, includes information about water availability, forest land management and LA’s fire department budget.

  • The Southern California Edison CEO, Steven Powell, has told reporters there are now about 50,000 customers without power, “down from over half a million just a couple days ago”. Powell said there was no evidence that any of Edison’s equipment caused the Hurst fire but that the investigation was continuing.

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Key events

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Price gouging preventing displaced Californians from finding new places to live

California attorney general Rob Bonta has warned that it is illegal to engage in price gouging, looting or scamming of any kind and those who do in response to the fires will be held accountable by the law.

“We’ve seen businesses and landlords … jack up the price,” he told journalists at a press conference yesterday. “It’s called price gouging. It is illegal. You cannot do it. It is a crime punishable by up to a year in jail and fines.”

Prices should only be increasing 10% or less from before the fire, Bonta was quoted as having said. He said that “this is California law and it’s in place to protect those suffering from a tragedy”.

The comments come amid reports of California residents who have lost their homes to the fire struggling to find new places to live due to price gouging – where companies or an individual excessively raise prices during emergencies.

“We put in an application at a house … that was listed at $17,000 a month, and they told us if we didn’t pay $30,000, we weren’t going to get it. They told me they have people ready to offer more and pay cash. It’s absolutely insane,” Maya Lieberman, a 50-year-old stylist, who is unable to find anywhere to live, told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.

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Here are some of the latest images being sent to us over the newswires from California:

A plane drops Phos-Chek flame retardant in Mandeville Canyon during the Palisades fire. Photograph: Mark Edward Harris/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock
Flames near a fire road above Mandeville Canyon during the Palisades fire. Photograph: Mark Edward Harris/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock
Los Angeles residents gather and sort through donated clothing at a pop-up donation centre for wildfire victims at Santa Anita park, California. Photograph: Clutch Pockets Wambli/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock
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A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses so far of the LA fires – that have already destroyed at least 12,000 structures – at between $135bn (£111bn) and $150bn (£123bn).

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LA fires death toll rises to 16 as new evacuation orders are issued

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Los Angeles wildfires that have destroyed 12,000 structures and killed 16 people.

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Five of the deaths were attributed to the Palisades fire and 11 resulted from the Eaton fire, the coroner’s office said on Saturday evening.

The Los Angeles county sheriff, Robert Luna, said the death toll is expected to rise as authorities deploy search dogs to devastated areas. The sheriff also said 13 people are reported missing.

County supervisor Lindsey Horvath said the LA area “had another night of unimaginable terror and heartbreak, and even more Angelenos evacuated due to the north-east expansion of the Palisades fire”.

The CalFire operations chief, Christian Litz, said the main focus on Saturday would be the Palisades fire burning in the canyon area, not far from the UCLA campus and the J Paul Getty Museum. Over the past 24 hours, the Palisades fire spread over an additional 1,000 acres (400 hectares), consuming more homes.

A fierce battle against the flames was under way in Mandeville Canyon, home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities not far from the Pacific coast, where swooping helicopters dumped water as the blaze charged downhill.

Advertisement

The National Weather Service warned of worsening Santa Ana winds that it predicted would pick up on Saturday night into Sunday morning in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and again on late Monday through Tuesday morning, bringing sustained winds of up to 30mph and wind gusts up to 70mph.

The fire also was threatening to jump over Interstate 405 and into densely populated areas in the Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley.

Fire fighting aircraft drop water and refill to fight the largest blaze, the Palisades Fire. Photograph: Daniel A Anderson/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

In other developments:

  • In response to criticism over water supply issues, the LA Department of Public Works released a statement “correcting misinformation” about the lack of water to fight the Palisades fire this week. The statement was released one day after the chief of the LA fire department, Kristin Crowley, told Fox LA that her firefighters had been hamstrung when hydrants ran dry in certain parts of the Palisades on Wednesday morning.

  • Malibu has lost one-third of the eastern edge of the city, mayor Doug Stewart said yesterday evening. He said that Malibu, a community of about 10,000 people on the western edge of Los Angeles, has suffered three fires in three months, with the Palisades fire, which threatens to spread west of interstate 405, being the worst.

  • Firefighters deployed from Mexico arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon. Canadian and Texan firefighters are also on their way to California.

  • California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has doubled the deployment of the state’s national guard to Los Angeles amid the wildfires.

  • Newsom has also launched a website aimed at addressing misinformation about the Los Angeles area wildfires. CaliforniaFireFacts.com, a branch of Newsom’s own website, includes information about water availability, forest land management and LA’s fire department budget.

  • The Southern California Edison CEO, Steven Powell, has told reporters there are now about 50,000 customers without power, “down from over half a million just a couple days ago”. Powell said there was no evidence that any of Edison’s equipment caused the Hurst fire but that the investigation was continuing.

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Newsom invites Trump to California, urges against politicizing 'human tragedy,' disseminating 'disinformation'

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Newsom invites Trump to California, urges against politicizing 'human tragedy,' disseminating 'disinformation'


California Gov. Gavin Newsom invited President-elect Trump to visit the Golden State to witness the destruction wildfires have wrought, meet with victims and thank first responders.

The governor’s message to Trump Friday came as fires continued ravaging parts of California.

Newsom urged against politicizing “human tragedy” and disseminating “disinformation.”

NEWSOM CALLS TRUMP’S CLAIMS ‘PURE FICTION’ AFTER PRESIDENT-ELECT POINTS FINGER OVER CALIFORNIA FIRE TRAGEDY

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President Trump, center, looks on with California Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom as they view damage from wildfires in Paradise, Calif., Nov. 17, 2018.  (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

“In the spirit of this great country, we must not politicize human tragedy or spread disinformation from the sidelines. Hundreds of thousands of Americans — displaced from their homes and fearful for the future — deserve to see all of us working in their best interests to ensure a fast recovery and rebuild,” Newsom wrote.

“With respect and an open hand.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office to request comment Saturday, but no comment was provided. Trump’s camp did not respond to a comment request.

NEWSOM RESPONDS TO THOSE ANGRY OVER WILDFIRE RESPONSE BY POINTING FINGER AT LOCAL LEADERS, TRUMP

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Gavin Newsom

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Trump has been excoriating Newsom, even asserting that he should step down as governor.

“One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground. It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!” the president-elect declared in a Truth Social post this week.

TRUMP ACCUSES NEWSOM OF PRIORITIZING ENDANGERED FISH SPECIES OVER PROTECTING RESIDENTS FROM WILDFIRES

Donald Trump

Former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, holds a campaign rally at the PPG Paints Arena Nov. 4, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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In another post, Trump accused “Gavin Newscum” and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of “Gross incompetence.”

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